Eliminating DRAM From Graphical Interfaces

A new webinar from Renesas shows how to create high-resolution graphical interfaces quickly while eliminating external memory.

The operator interface is a key design element in many of today's embedded systems. Often that interface requires a graphical display with PC-like resolution. An upcoming webinar at TechOnline will discuss how to create such an interface while eliminating the need for external dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) display buffers.

Graphical human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are becoming the norm for many types of embedded systems design. Particularly in the consumer space, those graphics need to have a fairly high resolution to meet user expectations. Automotive infotainment systems, home appliances, medical devices, and the like require visually rich displays showing fine detail.

But the higher the resolution the display offers, the more memory the embedded systems design must provide for buffering the images, typically DRAM. A WXGA (1,280x768) full color display, for instance, requires nearly 3 Mbytes of DRAM to hold a full screen. Graphics systems typically double buffer, though, so that the display shows a stable image from one buffer while the image's updates get loaded into the other buffer. Therefore, nearly 6 Mbytes of DRAM would be needed in a WXGA system.

Often designs meet this memory requirement by providing buffer memory external to the graphics controller device. But this approach has several drawbacks, including added cost and power, as well as increased design complexity. Further, with the rapid changes in DRAM technology, and the corresponding part obsolescence, a design using external memory can find itself needing modification to remain in production beyond a few years.

A new webinar from Renesas promises to provide viewers with insights into creating HMI systems while bypassing the need for an external DRAM solution. Eliminating DRAM From HMI Systems is a one-hour presentation scheduled for Thursday, May 22, at 2:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. PT) at UBM's TechOnLine site. The tutorial promises to "show you how to reduce cost and board space by eliminating SDRAM and how to achieve higher performance per unit cost" by leveraging MCUs with substantial internal RAM resources. David Olsen, product marketing manager at Renesas Electronics America, will be the presenter.

The webinar is free, though registration is required for attendance. If you are not able to make the live webinar, it will be available as an archive from the TechOnLine site shortly after the live presentation concludes and for several months thereafter. Follow this link to register for Eliminating DRAM From HMI Systems.

You have to contact Renesas for pricing and availability, I believe. The product was supposed to start sampling in July 2013 but the product selector on the Renesas website shows it as still in development.

I believe one of the primary reasons for moving display buffers to external DRAM has almost always been cost. More performant solutions might use fast onboard RAM (similar to cache on a modern CPU core).

So this might be an interesting presentation - since the proposition is increasing perf and lowering cost (relative to a modern DRAM based solution). And of course DDR perf is increasing (e.g. - DDR4) - so it's also a moving target.